Rhythm Club President, Marl – pictured with Musicians’ Club Secretary Maury Paul (left), NAACP Secretary Lester Bailey (standing, center) and Rhythm Club Secretary Estelle Edson (right) – signs the final document transferring Local 767 Rhythm Club assets to the Local 47 Musicians’ Club of Los Angeles in March of 1953, marking the final step in the amalgamation of the two Locals. (Photo: AFM Local 47 Overture archives)

Throughout his esteemed career, Marl Young was known for breaking ground. A civil rights leader within the American Federation of Musicians, he was instrumental in the historic merger of the former all-black Local 767 and all-white Local 47 in the 1950s, which set the precedent for desegregation within the entire musicians union of the United States and Canada. In 1970 he became the first black music director of a major network television series, “Here’s Lucy.” Young served as a longtime director of the Los Angeles musicians union and remained an activist until his retirement in January 2009. He died on April 29, 2009, at age 92.Continue reading →

The 60th annual GRAMMYs are a wrap — and what a night it was for Los Angeles musicians!

Bruno Mars swept the 60th annual GRAMMYs, taking home awards in all categories nominated including the night’s biggest wins: Record of the Year and Album of the Year (“24K Magic”), and Song of the Year (“That’s What I Like”). The Los Angeles AFM Local 47 artist also won in the categories of Best R&B Album, Song and Performance.

Read the full story and complete list of 2018 GRAMMY-winning recordings featuring AFM Local 47 musicians at listen-la.com.

SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris marching with AFM Local 47 musicains

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Local 47 musicians & union members joined hundreds of thousands at the 2018 Women’s March Los Angeles.

Activists converged on downtown the morning of Jan. 20 marching from Pershing Square to City Hall as part of the second annual Women’s March, the largest of dozens of similar protests held around the nation.

Looking for a great parallel career to help supplement the earnings from your industry work? Are you detail-oriented? Like numbers? Professional tax preparation might be a good parallel career for you!

The Actors Fund’s Career Center and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program are coming together to offer a free, two-stage Tax Preparation Training Program for entertainment industry professionals. Continue reading →

Overture Online is optimized for reading via smartphone or tablet. For those without access to a smart device, this issue may be viewed on a web browser (must have flash enabled). Local 47 members may download archived pdf versions from the members section at afm47.org.